


On The Side of the 'Hero'

by TheDoctorIsIcecube



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Children should not be dictators, Gen, N can actually talk to pokemon, Villain Wins AU, this happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4179870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/TheDoctorIsIcecube
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because when the person wins who wasn't meant to, the hero both loses and wins. And Touya is locked up because N seems to want him. For something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On The Side of the 'Hero'

**Author's Note:**

> Shh. I know it's Touya.

The ceiling was crumbling. He could feel the whole room shaking, in fact. A castle is not built for an ancient battle between two Pokémon. It never was built for it and there wouldn't be any purpose for it again. Because he lost.

And then he refused. He refused the kind offer of jointly ruling the region, although he was asked every day. N needed someone's help. Anyone's, really, but preferably his.

N was fascinated by him and it was hilarious. Even though he refused, he was dragged around to all these places. He refused to release his Pokémon even though he knew they'd stay.

After a month, it was getting a little tiresome, and he was threatening to rebel. That would be bad and Pokemon would undoubtedly be hurt in this little rebellion, so N ordered his arrest.

N said it wasn't an official arrest. No criminal record for him. That meant he should be grateful, but when his Pokémon were seized and released he wasn't so happy. Even if they were still here.

He was allowed to stay in quite a nice room, with all his Pokemon. N personally made sure he was comfortable and knew where everything was, and he gave him a few more Pokemon to keep him company, too. His own days spent isolated would have been utterly miserable without the company of Pokemon.

But the room. It was a prison, even if it was a nice one and there were no NORMAL humans to ever talk to. After two days of no sight of anyone except N once it started to get too much.

He made an attempt to escape. Luckily, he wasn't very strong and his frantic kicking of the door only served to alert a guard, who immediately summoned N just as he'd been ordered to do. Any troubles with this kid were to be brought straight to the ruler.

N didn't look annoyed. He only looked hurt. He didn't want him to escape. He didn't want him to be unhappy.  
He walked into the cell, gazing sadly at the boy who'd once been a friend. If only he could have that friendship again. Glancing momentarily down at his feet, he prepared himself for speaking in a human language.

"I thought we were friends." He said, slowing himself down as much as he could manage. "I'm giving you all of this. I could have had you executed."

The boy was sitting on his bed, glaring at N. He didn't dignify his captor with a response, choosing instead to hug an Eevee that N had brought in for him closer to his chest, as if he was trying to protect the little Pokemon from him. Irony was a cruel thing, thought N.

He sat down on the floor. He'd show Toya how he was meant to love Pokémon. And then maybe he would learn.  
Closing his eyes, he lowered his head a little and let out a soft Eevee cry. The Pokemon wriggled free of Toya's arms and trotted over, looking happily up at N.

It purred at him when he clicked his tongue, and leapt into his lap. "There is no need to protect Pokémon from me."  
Toya reached out his arms, calling Eevee's name a few times. It didn't listen, curled contentedly on N's lap as he gently stroked it's little mane. "Why won't it LISTEN to me?"

"Because I am more preferable to you." He said evenly. "I understand it, but you reproduce only a mockery of that understanding."

Toya sat stubbornly on his bed, going back to his old method of glaring mutely at N and wondering how he could have considered this person a friend, ever. He'd thought, when N had spared him from his Pokémon being taken away, so many times, that N was on his side. But it seemed N thought that it was the other way around.

Toya called for one of his own Pokemon, a Jolteon, and it happily climbed up onto the bed with him. He gave N a smug 'my Pokemon is bigger than yours' look.

"Let's not start this." He said. "All I want is for you to learn from this."

"There's nothing TO learn!" Toya yelled, angrily thumping his fists on the mattress either side of him. The Jolteon jumped and leapt off the bed, cowering at N's side.

"I'm sorry." N said, gently carding his fingers through Jolteon's fur. "I didn't mean to make him angry."

"Oh, yeah, don't apologise to ME, who you LOCKED UP." A couple more Pokemon in the room took wary steps towards N, who was radiating calm amidst Toya's anger.

"You broke the law." He said. "And you're not even locked in, I'll have you know." There was just no way to open the door from this side.

"I did not break the law!" Toya protested, and N thought he saw a few tears shining in the boy's eyes even as he screamed and shouted. The child would learn the error of his ways soon enough.

"The law is no Pokémon are to be kept in these archaic balls." He said. "And until I released them, your Pokémon were."

"I hate your stupid laws. I hate them and I hate YOU." N looked up sharply, a frown flitting momentarily across his face before he remembered he had to stay calm for the Pokemon. They needed a safe space to run to. And they were definitely coming. They would much rather be here than with an upset trainer.

N waited patiently while Toya yelled at him for a good two minutes more, then when he heard the boy's voice crack and his anger give way to tears, he bent low to speak quietly to the Jolteon who'd been frightened before. "Go. Help your trainer."

It nodded and climbed gently onto Toya's shoulder, where it started licking his face.

The boy looked up at it, sniffled, and hugged it close. N smiled slightly. Pokemon were always willing to help their trainers, and Toya would realise soon that they didn't need to be captive. Toya probably already realised that. But he wasn't willing to let it be a way of life.

"Toya," N said gently. "Tell me, why do you capture Pokemon? Do you not see that they will happily obey a human when treated correctly."

"I know." He said bitterly. "I know what you want and what you've achieved, N. I was there."

"Yes, and so why do you- or did you, I should say- use Pokéballs? Did you not see how unnecessary they are?"

"N, it's not a relevant debate anymore." He said. "Pokémon have gone through your precious liberation. End of."

"End of.." N repeated quietly. "Oh, how I wish that were true. Sadly, it is not yet 'end of'. People oppose me. I could do with someone like you to assist me."

"But I don't agree with what you have done." He snapped. "I'm never going to help someone like you."

"One day you will," N sighed, standing up. "I'll see you again tomorrow, Toya. Goodbye."

"You can't just keep me here!" He protested. There was nothing to do. No way to tell the time of day.

"Goodbye," N said again. He stood up, pushed his hair behind his shoulder, and strode carefully out of the room. Toya...that boy was a mystery, and one of the only humans N could speak to without feeling sick and scared.

"You can't just..." He sighed into the empty room. It may as well have been empty. No one to have a real conversation with.

Toya stared blankly at the Jolteon on the bed in front of him. If only he could talk to it like N could, he thought for just a second, and then dismissed the thought with a disgusted noise.

He wouldn't ever be like N, either. He wouldn't be able to stand it. N was insufferable and annoying and just plain wrong. His ideas came first for him, no matter who he hurt. 

Toya slumped back on his bed and sighed, staring at the blank ceiling and hoping N would see sense soon. Any time soon. Please.

He wanted to cry. He was crying, he realised. Quietly. He wondered idly if there were cameras in this prison. Probably. N was probably watching him cry and laughing.

About a hundred metres down the corridor, N was indeed watching. Not crying. Just sitting, watching the screen and wondering why Toya refused to cooperate. He'd said himself that he had lost. That he understood N's ideals. So why wouldn't he learn?

"Sire, your presence is required elsewhere." N jumped, looking at the guard standing at the door. "Sire? With all due respect, that boy does seem to be a lost cause."

"Not after this." He said. "He will come round. I know it."

"If you say so, Sire. Please, would you accompany me?" N sighed, glancing wistfully back up at the screen and then following the guard out of the room.

Another batch of arrested trainers who were refusing to release their Pokémon. Delightful. He sat down and resigned himself to another two hours of asking Pokémon if they wanted to be with their trainers after they were released.

Most did, a few didn't and were humanely released back into the wild, and then the trainers were free to go with a mark on their record and their Pokéballs confiscated.  
No longer trainers, they'd have to find other uses for their skills. N was still trying to work out the regulation on battling.

It would be nice to have someone who was thoroughly used to battling on his side to work out what was wrong with it. Toya, for instance.

He didn't want Pokémon to be hurt. But battling was a vital part of the community of Pokémon and without the gym and elite four structure, the region would no longer have SilphCo protection. Not that he wanted it, but apparently it was vital.

"Sire? N?" He glanced up to see another guard. There were so many guards. People. He'd have to do something about that. Employ Pokemon as guards, perhaps. If they wouldn't mind. 

"Yes? What is it?"

"Your prisoner is shouting again." He said.

"Oh, for goodness' sake..." Toya was going to scare the Pokemon if he carried on like that. N got up, making his way to the cell. Toya was indeed shouting. Loudly.

He was shouting about needing things to do. Wanting to know if his friends were okay. Hell, he wanted to know if anyone was okay.

"Toya!" N called, pushing open the door. He stopped shouting immediately. A little flock of Pokemon gathered around N's heels, sending the presence of someone controlled and calm.

"You can't just keep me here like this." He said. He'd said it earlier and he would say it again.

"I can, and I am," he said evenly. "Until you learn the error of your ways and accept that I am making the right choices in how I rule this region."

"But you aren't." He said. "You can't. Please. I need something. Or I'm just going to be like you. But with less human contact."

"Would that really be such a bad thing?" N asked, going over to him. He reached out a hand, hoping Toya would take it. He didn't, so N rested it gently on his knee. "Would it really?"

"Yes." He snapped. "Because you're wrong. You're deprived and delusional."

N tried not to be too hurt, keeping his hand on Toya's knee. "Please, Toya. You're my friend."

"No." He snapped. "I thought you were my friend because you let me be. You stopped people hurting me. But you're no better than them. You're probably worse."

"I'm worse than the people hurting you? Toya, if no one ever hurt anyone ever again I would be the happiest man alive. I...despise violence. I would never hurt you."

"You are hurting me." He said. N was so naïve. "You don't even realise that physical harm isn't the only harm, do you?"

He couldn't help a little laugh. Toya knew nothing of emotional pain. This was nothing, nothing at all. N hadn't killed anyone close to Toya, or hurt anyone, or done anything except be kind. "This isn't pain." He said. "This isn't fear. You're only desperate for freedom you cannot understand."

He snorted, pulling his knee away from N's hand. N just let it drop. "Please. Listen to me, listen to my ideas."

"I've done enough listening." He said angrily. "What do you want from me? What do I have to do to get out of here?"

"All you have to do is listen to me. Believe me. Properly be on my side," N said quietly. He needed someone on his side.

"I've listened. You don't understand, N. I'm not on your side and I never will be."

N stood up and cleared his throat, holding his hands loosely behind his back to disguise the fact that he couldn't keep them still. "Goodbye, Toya. If you start shouting again, I am very sorry to say that we will have to remove the Pokemon from your room. I cannot have them being scared."

"No." He whispered. "Please, N, please what else can I do? Are my friends okay? My mum?"

"They're all fine. I promise you. I swear it on all my power as king, no harm will come to any of them."

"Where are they?" He asked. "Is Cheren okay? How are his Pokémon?"

"Cheren's Pokemon were released when the law was passed. I assume he is alright, I haven't heard any other way."

He heard him start crying, but that was it. He'd been crying a lot and it had only been a few days. Surely he realised that the Pokémon were there to keep him company.

N put his hand on the door again, tempted to go back in and talk to the boy. No, he decided. It would be better to leave him a while.

How long, though? Leaving him to the Pokémon could be harmful to the Pokémon. But without contact he was already desperate.

Just a couple of days. N had other stuff to attend to, like a minor rebellion dangerously close to the castle, and protests from the region's gyms about what they were supposed to do now.

The gyms had to stay open for politics reasons. They also still had to accept challengers. So far, he left a group of grunts in charge of every area instead to make sure all the Pokémon were okay.

He was holding power, just. Keeping his dream alive and living it. For now. It was harder than expected, but he was doing it.

He went back to his Pokémon. It was important to spend time with his Pokémon as much as he could. He would get to do that tomorrow, too.

Entering the small private garden where he liked to keep them all, N smiled as they all ran or flew up to him. It was nice to be loved by Pokemon. The only ones who understood him properly.

It was lonely in his life. Pokémon were the best company possible, but there was something different about being with humans, too. He felt like he shouldn't be disappointed by them, even though he was.

Humans were loud and cruel and scary, and Pokemon...weren't. Not to N, not ever. He could talk to them. Understand them. Darkrai himself would surely shy from hurting N.

He loved Pokémon, and all he wanted was for everyone to love them like he did. Maybe a little less, he thought, because he liked being special.

Toya would come round to his way of thinking soon, and they could be friends again. Yes. It seemed easier now N was among Pokemon, among what he almost wanted to call his own kind.

But no one was his kind. No one was a hero like him, no one was perfect, and no one could understand everything like he could.

Pokemon were the closest he could have for now, and they would have to do. His friends. His companions. The only creatures he could trust.

He wanted to trust something else. Someone else. Pokémon were amazing. They were incredible creatures, but it was hard to live up to their example.

Perhaps Toya would do, soon. "What do you think I should do, hey?" N turned to the Zoroark sat next to him, running his fingers through the creature's hair, styled a lot like his own.

He wasn't sure if the Pokémon had picked him up from him or he had picked it up from the Pokémon, and that was how it should be.

The Zoroark just sort of leaned close to him, and N sighed. Pokemon were wonderful, but in moral questions most were fairly clueless. A Pokemon couldn't run a region by itself.

And he couldn't, either. He had Ghetis and the other sages. But they were old. They were different. They didn't really care about him, they cared about the king.

That was just the way it was. Same as always, N just one person being argued over by other people and told to do things. Pokemon didn't tell him to do things.

He wanted Toya. He didn't know why. From the moment he had met him, all that long time ago, he'd felt drawn to him. To his manner and his clear respect, if not love, for his Pokémon.

He was a child, still, innocent and occasionally petulant, as he'd shown earlier with all his shouting. But he was also intelligent and perceptive and able, and intriguing.  
Not as intelligent as him, naturally. But intelligent anyway. And he had potential. He could be something incredible, N was sure.

It was just a matter of waiting. And waiting was something N was very good at.

He'd done a lot of waiting. He'd waited so many years to be king. He'd wait years for someone else who understood him, too.

N had to wait a week until Toya started causing problems again. Apparently being left alone with only Pokemon had not yet caused him to realise that they were companions, and he instead tried another escape attempt. Convincing the Jolteon to electrocute the security camera was a smart idea, admittedly, but not a very good one seeing as the guard on duty immediately noticed that the video feed was gone.

It didn't take long to get a new one wired in, and while that was being done N kept a constant watch over Toya, the pair of them shut in the bathroom so Toya could not even hear, let alone see, the people outside.

It was vitally important that Toya didn't encounter any other humans. This method had worked on N, and he was sure it would work on Toya, too. It didn't matter if he liked it or not.

It certainly made him very upset. He didn't think contact with Pokémon counted as social contact at all. He would learn. He would definitely learn.

"You know, Toya," said N, from his perch on the bathroom counter. "You could speak to the Pokemon if you're desperate for company. I promise you they do make for quite stimulating conversation."

"I don't understand Pokémon." He said flatly, his voice slightly muffled from where his ear was pressed against the door, trying to hear the people in the cell.

"You will do if you only listen, child." Toya glanced around and glared at N. 'Child' was a pretty insulting nickname, seeing as N wasn't that much older than him.

"Is that why you won't let me hear people?" He snapped. Admittedly, he had sort of enjoyed having time with his Pokémon. But not all the time.

N didn't answer, merely smiled in a way that was supposed to be comforting but Toya viewed as smug and irritating. "Toya, look at yourself. You seem especially fond of the Jolteon, and yet you really say you've never heard it speak to you? Never heard it make a noise in answer to your talking?"

"Of course!" He said. He'd object that Jolteon was his favourite, but at the moment he was the best for crying on. His only small Pokémon.

"Jolteon is trying to talk to you. All Pokemon can understand humans, and humans need only listen to be able to understand Pokemon. Observe." He called for Jolteon, who'd followed Toya into the bathroom, and made some more small noises to it. It inclined it's head for a moment, then made a noise Toya had never heard before. "Jolteon says it enjoys freedom, and your company. It wishes you would be happier."

He wasn't sure if that should make him angry or sad. It made him a bit of both. How DARE N be better with his Pokémon than he was. But he...he wanted to be happier too and his Jolteon actually cared.

After a long moment, he spoke tersely, trying to sound as disinterested as possible. "How did you know that's what Jolteon said?"  
"Because I listen." He said. "I've listened for so long. I know what each movement of each Pokémon means."

"But how?" Toya couldn't keep a more of frustrated curiosity out of his voice. "What did Jolteon do to let you know that's what he said?"

"I cannot explain it." He said. "But if you listen, I'm sure you will learn. In time. And then, maybe you'll see."

Toya didn't say anything else, but N could see he'd caught the boy's interest. Good. He would keep a very close eye on the camera feed for the next few weeks, see if Toya tried talking to his Pokemon again.

Then came the time when N, as the leader and champion of the region, had to go to a conference of all the champions of the regions. To explain what was happening in the region in recent days. It would be a long process, he was sure. He would be away from Toya for a week, so he would have to send a Pokémon in with his food.

He made sure that he was given daily reports on the boy's behaviour, and was pleased to note that on three of the days, he seemed to be attempting to speak to the Pokemon. Unsuccessfully so far, but that would come with time. The conference itself was stressful, as none of the other champions seemed all that keen on N's ideas of how to run a region.

There was one champion who he knew often came on holidays to Unova. If she came across the border, her Pokéballs would be confiscated.

By the time the conference was over, N could not be more keen to get back to Unova. Away from this place where everyone still captured Pokemon, and back to his kingdom of freedom.

When he got back, he didn't go to Toya straight away. No. He went to eat. And then he slept. Leave Toya desperate for another twelve hours. Progress had been made in this conference, even if it wasn't through that.


End file.
